


Interference

by neverwinter (KingPreussen)



Series: it takes a village [22]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Angst, Body Dysphoria, Body Image, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 01:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14485332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingPreussen/pseuds/neverwinter
Summary: Staring in the mirror was starting to make Angus' stomach ache. He climbed down off of his step stool and folded it up to bring it back into the kitchen, resolving not to look in the mirror again.---Accumulated self-doubt.





	Interference

**Author's Note:**

> title from [constructive interference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEpLXut5BfM)
> 
> warnings: body image issues in a child, internalized colorism, self-worth issues, identity issues
> 
> i saw a few comments on the adventure zone reddit (i dont use the website i was directed by something else) about how making taako wear a dress was "too much" or something. the person was like, taako is gay but not that gay. whatever the exact phrasing was, it pissed me the fuck off, and im glad i dont use that shithole site

Taako was _beautiful_. Even without makeup, first thing in the morning, curls spilling out of the braid he wore at night, he was beautiful. He would wake Angus up by sitting on the edge of his bed and stroking his hair, and Angus felt honored that the first thing he saw in the morning was Taako's gorgeously sleepy face.

Kravitz, predictably, was no different. The lines of his jaw and his nose were sharper than Taako's, making him look more traditionally masculine, but somehow his wavy hair always looked windswept and not slept-on. He greeted Angus with lazy, perfect smiles that made Angus feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Angus, aided by the step stool from the kitchen, looked himself over in the bathroom mirror. He wasn't beautiful, or handsome. He wasn't necessarily ugly either, but he definitely didn't look like he belonged to Taako and Kravitz.

Until a few weeks ago, Angus never really considered his own looks beyond wearing formal outfits for Kravitz' events. And then he saw Taako out before a date to a ballet and something told him Taako would steal the show. Kravitz standing next to him, arm resting around Taako's waist as the Elf ran through Angus' schedule to Magnus one last time, only enhanced the picture.

Hesitantly, Angus touched his cheek. It was rounder than Taako's, and much darker. He thought Taako's honey brown skin was the perfect shade, smooth and pretty and evenly colored. Angus had dark brown--almost black--freckles covering his cheeks and around his eyes and down his flat nose that were much too obvious to be covered this late in his life.

Staring in the mirror was starting to make Angus' stomach ache. He climbed down off of his step stool and folded it up to bring it back into the kitchen, resolving not to look in the mirror again.

* * *

"Oh fuck, shit!" Angus put his fork down in his eggs and listened more closely to the back of the apartment. "Fuck, this was cotton, wasn't it? Fucking cocksucking dryer!"

"Are you okay, Taako?" Angus called down the hallway.

There was a pause while Taako slammed the dryer door closed. "Yeah, pumpkin, I'm fine!" he called back. "Shrank a dress I actually kinda liked, gonna have to give it away! Too bad I fuckin' suck at Transmutation on fabrics," he added in a grumbling undertone.

Angus went back to his breakfast and very purposefully didn't think about the ruined dress. He made it all the way through his school day, concentrating his hardest in his classes, raising his hand and answering questions, forcing himself to eat the amazing lunch Taako packed for him.

When he got home and saw it, still draped over the washer in preparation to be folded and taken to charity, Angus couldn't resist the urge to swipe it.

He locked himself in his room before holding the dress out in front of him. It was a bright green sundress with wavy fabric up to the knee in the front and trailing the ground in the back. The last time he remembered Taako wearing it was to a barbeque Merle hosted. Angus' dad went barefoot in Merle's backyard the whole day, the dress almost floating above the short, dark grass; he looked like a Wood Elf or a Fae.

Angus carefully took off his school uniform and put it in the hamper beside his closet. Then he pulled the dress over his head, getting his glasses caught in the process, and fumbled his phone out of his backpack.

It took a little while to get a good angle with his front camera, but eventually Angus stepped back and studied himself in the phone's screen. He looked… horrible. A skinny, dark little Human with ugly hair and scarred knees in a suddenly hideously neon green dress that sat on him like a potato sack.

He struck out at the phone, knocking it off his desk, and _heard_ the screen shatter as soon as it hit the floor.

The soft, puttering sounds Taako usually made around the house after school stopped. "Angles? You okay?" he asked loudly.

Angus wanted to answer. He wanted to say something disarming and reassuring. But he knew how much his phone cost Taako, how it cut into their savings to purchase--how much Taako had loved the fifty dollar dress that he accidentally ruined and now Angus was playing shitty dress up in it and he just didn't want to think about being pretty anymore.

Taako knocked on his door directly. "Angus, baby, answer me please?"

Startled, Angus rushed into action, yanking the dress back over his head and _really_ catching his glasses this time, losing them somewhere on the floor. He opened his mouth to answer, to say _something_ , but nothing came out.

"I need to know if you're hurt." Taako tried the door handle and made a startled sound when he found it locked. "Angus, open the door. Right now."

Angus couldn't find his glasses and he also couldn't find anything to wear. He searched his hamper by touch and found a black tee shirt with an indistinct white logo that was probably passed from Kravitz to Taako to him. Getting it on with shaking hands was a struggle but he managed it in just a few seconds, and then practically tripped over himself to unlock the door.

Taako stepped in and Angus belatedly remembered he didn't hide the dress.

"Istus bless, kid, don't scare me--" Taako cut himself off, and Angus couldn't see his expression but he could guess it wasn't happy. "Is that my dress? And where are your glasses?"

Angus burst into frightened tears. "M-my phone," he whimpered, covering his eyes with one of the tee shirt sleeves. "I r-r-ruined it, I--"

Beautiful, gorgeous, ethereal Taako bent over to lift Angus' misshapen body, covered only with briefs and a hand-me-down shirt, and held him against his chest. "Baby, what happened? Don't cry, sweet pea, I don't care about the phone! We can get you a new one, okay?"

Angus didn't know how to relay what exactly was wrong. He didn't like feeling like this, like he was _different_ from Taako, like he wasn't Taako's son, but he did. "I'm sorry," was all he could stammer against Taako's work blouse.

"Maybe we're just tired, hm, angelface? Have a long day?" Taako started to rock back and forth like Angus was much younger than his actual age, but it surprisingly served to calm him down a bit. At least, enough that he could string more than two words together.

"I'm not pretty like you," he explained emphatically, hiding his face against Taako's shoulder. "I w-wanted to try your dress, but I'm ugly, and--"

Taako cut him off again, this time with a gentle shushing sound into Angus' hair. "Now pumpkin, what gave you the idea you're not pretty?"

Angus closed his eyes so he couldn't even see the green dress in his peripheral vision. "I don't look like you," he answered honestly. It made his skin crawl, thinking about the differences between himself and Taako all over again. Even if Taako was his biological father he couldn't hope to be half as beautiful.

"And you think ol' Taako is the be-all and end-all of beauty? I've got news for you, baby: beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Angus was already shaking his head before Taako finished his sentence, but Taako would not be deterred. "Go on to my room. I'll get your glasses and we'll have a talk."

Taako let Angus down onto his own two feet and did as he was asked, using the wall as a guide to the next room over and sitting himself on Taako's bed. Having perfect eyesight was obviously a blessing, because Taako placed Angus' glasses on his nose within seconds of looking for them.

Perfection stood smiling back at him and Angus lowered his eyes to his knees. "I'm sorry for stealing your dress," Angus murmured.

"You didn't steal it," Taako denied with a frown. "What's mine is yours, you know that. Try on anything you want." He Levitated his full length mirror over to the bed and took Angus' hand, helping him to his feet. "So, which part of my gorgeous boy is 'ugly', exactly?"

Angus tilted his head up just enough to glance in the mirror. "Skin," he said succinctly.

"Oh _really_?" Taako drawled. He crouched next to Angus so they were of a height and brushed the back of his perfectly manicured hand against Angus' cheek. "Your skin is my favorite. Every color you wear makes you glow, it's so deep and smooth. And your freckles." Taako kissed Angus right above his eye, making him smile despite himself. "They're like inverse stars. Tens of little, cute-as-shit constellations."

"W-well," Angus said softly, "my hair too."

Taako's eyes went dramatically wide. "I take personal offense to that, Angus! You know how much I fucking _love_ taking care of your hair? It's so soft and dark and curly, you even get little ringlets after I wash it! And it smells so nice when you come in from outside, like sunshine!" He twirled his index finger into a tight coil and pulled it like a spring.

Angus didn't know what to say that wouldn't immediately get refuted. He turned away from the mirror and into Taako's arms, wrapping his arms around the Elf's neck and holding tightly so maybe Taako couldn't turn him around again.

He felt Taako end his Levitation spell before hugging him back. "You see, baby? I could tell you how beautiful you are every day if that's what you need."

Maybe he was telling the truth. Angus sighed, ruffling the hair in Taako's sleek ponytail. "I want to look like I belong to you and Kravitz. Like your son."

Taako chuckled lightly and gave Angus a squeeze. "Ask Krav if you look like his son. Apparently fucking _ev-ery-bo-dy_ at his job assumes he's your bio-dad and I'm the new, smokin' hot stepfather. And anyway," he said a bit louder, leaning back and studying Angus' face, "Lots of kids don't look like their parents. You could be a Half-Orc and you'd still be my boy genius."

Angus hadn't really stopped crying, the pressure enough that he was starting to get a headache behind his eyes, but now tears were racing down his face again. "I'm sorry," he repeated wetly.

Taako grinned at him. "No more apologies, Angus. I've got a plan."

His plan involved posting up in Taako's bed for the rest of the afternoon, demolishing a bag of Doritos and four cups of hot chocolate before dinner and watching comedy news clips on YouTube.

Kravitz stopped by after work with a brand new bag of chips and a kiss planted right on Angus' forehead. He didn't add to Taako's self-confidence speech because he wasn't much of a talker, but the way he tucked Angus under his arm while the three of them continued to ruin their appetites was just as nice.

**Author's Note:**

> itll take more than one talk to solve everything but after this, taako does _a lot_ more


End file.
